Playwright Will Eno’s humorous “Middletown” is the next play featured in the 2013-2014 season of UNL’s University Theatre.
Directed by graduate student Joshua Waterstone, the production opens at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 14 in the Temple Building’s Howell Theatre. Other performances are 7:30 p.m. Nov. 15, 20, 21, 22 and 23; and 2 p.m. Nov. 17 and 24.
The plot of “Middletown” features the deceptively compact universe of a small American town.
“I wanted to write something that was a statement about what life feels, to me, on earth,” said Eno. “Middletown offers a journey to somewhere between the great mysteries of our existence — a journey in the middle of the miracles and mysteries of birth and death, that middle we call life.
“It’s a contemporary play, but it also explores deep questions, and the characters don’t lie. They very much get to the core of issues with each other.”
Twelve University Theatre cast members play 22 characters in the production. The play features Lauren Huston as Mary Swanson and Jeffrey Paskach as John Dodge. Other primary cast members are Emma Gruhl (librarian), Spenser Stokes (cop), and Will J. Voelker (mechanic). Actors playing multiple characters are Grant Alsup, Desiree Bartels, Lupe Chairez, Tatiana Gant, Bryan Howard, Trey Martinez and Meghan Modrovsky.
The production is designed by Victoria Halverson (scenic); Morgan Robertson (props); Joseph Burbach (lighting); Janice Stauffer, associate professor, (costumes); Joe Shea (sound); and Drake Tucker and Ethan Seagren (projections).
The stage manager is Savannah Kurtz.
Tickets are $16 general admission, $14 faculty/staff and senior citizens, and $10 for students. There is no performance Nov. 16 due to the home football game. Tickets are available at http://carsonschool.unl.edu, at the Lied Center for Performing Arts box office, 402-472-4747, or at the door one-hour before a performance.
UNL’s University Theatre is the academic production program of the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film.
For more information, go to http://carsonschool.unl.edu.
